The WNBA and NBA Canada are teaming up for the second WNBA Canada Game, this time in Edmonton, Alberta. On Sunday May 5, 2024, the Los Angeles Sparks will take on the Seattle Storm in a preseason exhibition game at Rogers Place.
Last year, the WNBA held a preseason game between the Minnesota Lynx and Chicago Sky at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. It was a wild success, with fans selling out the 19,000-seat arena in just minutes.
The entire weekend was filled with pop-ups, fun events, panels and art installments around the city, all celebrating the historic event. With recent news about the WNBA potentially expanding to Canada, the league has decided to hold a second exhibition game in Canada.
The choice to have the game in Edmonton presents an opportunity to highlight important women’s basketball history. Canada’s first formal professional basketball team was based out of Edmonton, called the Edmonton Commercial Graduates or the “Grads.” The Grads represented Canada at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games, since Canada Basketball did not have a designated women’s program at that time. The Grads won gold in women’s basketball at those games. To hold a game in Edmonton exactly 100 years after the first Edmonton professional women’s basketball team made history at the…
